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Hollywoodgate

Director

Ibrahim Nash’at

Executive Producers

Mehmet Elbanna, Sahraa Karimi, Diane Becker, Katherine Embiricos, Jim Swartz, Susan Swartz, Melony Lewis, Adam Lewis

Producers

Talal Derki, Odessa Rae, Shane Boris

Editors

Atanas Georgiev, Marion Tuor

Cinematographer

Ibrahim Nash’at

Hollywoodgate picks up where the rest of the world left off, in the immediate aftermath of the United States’ chaotic withdrawal from Afghanistan. Days after the last U.S. plane leaves Afghan soil, the Taliban—now in control of the country—enters an American base in Kabul called Hollywood Gate, reputed to have been a secret CIA station. There they find a portion of the over $7 billion in sophisticated American weaponry left in the country: numerous small arms and munitions, jet fighters, Black Hawk helicopters, and other military equipment. Much of it is damaged, but the base is also equipped with many of the parts needed to fix it.

Director Ibrahim Nash’at’s unprecedented and audacious Hollywoodgate is witness as the new head of Afghanistan’s air force, Malawi Mansour—a Taliban whose father was killed by the Americans—orders his soldiers to inventory everything and repair all they can. The men go to work restoring the weaponry and training themselves to use it. Among them is Muhktar—a former Taliban fighter now aiming to build a high-ranking military career—who dreams of avenging the war.

Hollywoodgate follows Malawi Mansour and Mukhtar over the course of a year as the Taliban transforms from a fundamentalist militia into a heavily armed military regime preparing for war beyond Afghanistan’s borders. Nash’at, an Egyptian journalist granted unique but fraught access to Afghanistan, documents what the Taliban will allow him to see to offer a chilling and essential portrait of what is happening inside Afghanistan today.

Post-screening discussion with director Ibrahim Nash’at and Jason Dempsey, Senior Fellow at the Center for a New American Security. Moderated by Greg Jaffe, National Reporter at The Washington Post.

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Ibrahim Nash’at

Director, Hollywoodgate

Ibrahim Nash’at is an Egyptian documentary filmmaker based in Berlin, Germany. His career in journalism spans various formats, working with several international channels and online platforms such as Deutsche Welle, Al Jazeera, Business Insider, AJ+, Voice of America, and others. Ibrahim holds a master’s degree in documentary filmmaking from Met Film School. He co-edited Academy Award-nominated director Talal Derki’s latest film, Under the Sky of Damascus, which premiered at Panorama – Berlinale 2023 and won the Golden Alexander at the 25th Thessaloniki Doc Festival. Ibrahim directed A Moment With the Wind, Home Away From Home, and Berlin’s Diversity, short films that were selected for multiple film festivals around the world. Hollywoodgate is Ibrahim’s first feature film.